Method of producing gas



L. W. BATES;

METHOD OF PRODUCING GAS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1920.

1 73,704, Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Invenfor:

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L. W. BATES.

METHOD OF PRODUCING GAS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, 1920.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

SHEET 2.

2 SHEETS Toallwhomitmay concern:

. UNITED STA,

LIN DON WALLACE BATES, OF MOUNT LEBA NON, NEw YORK.

Be it known that I, LINDON W. BAT S. a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Mount Lebanon, in the county of Columbia and State of NewYork, have in' vented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods ofProducing; Gas; of-

which tge following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process for making gas for heating,illuminating and other purposes. More specifically'it refers to 'themethod of employing liquid hydrocarbon and solid carbonaceous substancein such a fashion as to produce simultaneously and initially acombinedcoal 'and oil or coal, oil-and water gas, called-Amalg'as.

'Heretofore coal and oil have been used j separately toform gas. I Oilgas has been used in a carbureter as a later'enrichment of the coalor'water gas. Theway has, however, recently been found whereby coal andoil, or like li ui d hydrocarbon and solid carbonace'oussu stances, maybe combined into a stable liquid or mobile fuel and simulta neously:burned. The mannerof so doing is described-in ing a plicatio'n Serialtoward. a Fuel and method of, producing same. use of'stabiliz ing agentsin small amounts, such as lime-rosin grease or "equivalent substances,or'the use of somewhat larger amounts of peptoniz'ing agents havingstabiliging qualities such'as coal distillat'es or like liquidderivatives'of carbo- "naceous. or equivalent substances, will produceadequate fuel stability and suspend'in Specification of Letters Patent.

TES- PATENT oFFmE.

' carbon and solid carbonaceous substance combined in advance to formsimultaneously the gas product; 2nd, the omission of the separate stepof oil gas enrichment of coal or water gas; 3rd, the disposition of theash released by the combustion of the particles of solid. in thecomposite fuel; 4th, the use of liquid hydrocarbon'instead of water inthe washbox to collect tar and lampblack and make further fuel. 'Theadvantages of employing such composite fuel in gas-making are manifest.The

duration of thevprocess may be reduced as p the enrichment step'may beeliminated. The

combustion of the coal is more complete as the particles are smallin thefuel. Lampblack and other carbonaceous solids, including those too finein mesh to be used as gfuel ;on grates or in a generator, may nowlibeusefully employed to make gas. The type and grade of gas may beregulated .in ad- Vance by selecting a composite fuel which will producethe desired gas. At present, the quality of gas depends in part upon,reg; ulation of the flow of oilgas into the poorer 7 coal or water gasduring the process, 1 ugust 5t ,1919, directed "than it might be. --Thepassage of the gas liquidfuel up to about 40% by weight of pulverizedcoal in oil alone or with some tar. All suitable combustible liquids andcarbonaceous solids may be'used. The manner of'combining' the componentsis stated I fully in the' said a plication, and. consists in ;-amechanical b ending or pulverizing treatmenuflor a heattreatment in a,combined treatment.

v The trcatmentIand stabilizing substances produce anequilibrium in the.mixture so that the'particlesof solid Y subs-3811109 o not precipitateout for a 'giyen desired length of time. The present probe-SS.

take'ssuch fuel and uses it to make a suprior or cheaper gas accordingto .a simplified gas maklng process, having an optional closed circuitfuel production feature as well.

a .The points of the new process are these: 1 st;the employmentof liquidhydro;

;through the wash box, tar extractor,. condenser and pipes cleans thegas itself rather thoroughly. Fortunately there are a num-. ber of'wa sof -meeting the'ash disposal problem. The simplest way is to use cokesor coals low in ash, -orto remove the ash before the 'coal 'iscolloidalize'd with the liquid to form the stable mobile .fuel. Theflotation or other water washing method of the heati-"Electricalprecipitators may also be employed. A water bath is a furtheralternative- There are man ways of re-. moving ash, andthe "baflieselected herein simply as typical to represent the ash removal step ofthe process.

. n e ch m wl c e ce now knows the Patented Apr. 5,1921. Applicationfiled February 19, 1920. Serial 1Tb. 859,810. I

ash removal maybe used for. this purpose.

ate .method is .i' way of stabilizing solid particles and tar dropletsin oil," the wash box need no longerthese {particles contain water ,tocollect these gas. impurl ties, but may contain oil-or other such liquidtreated or adapted to form therein and with i and droplet, a fuel or toform-aximixture which maybe later colloi- -.dalized by subject ng it tothe requisite treatment with or wlthout the addition of .furthercomponents.

The, wash box may be .filled' with ordinary oil or with fixated oil. Inthe first case it will be usually necessary to. add thestabilizingsubstances or fixateurs before employing the fuel. If the oilis or fcontains, coal distillate, having peptonizing qualities, it isalready adapted to stabilize I a the gas and adequatehomogeneityorasecondary water-containing wash box 5 trap may beinterposed before the Wash box.

.bestatio'nary or for it to be gradually flowing in and out.

droplets, and in some cases its .heat alone may give the l to produce astable fuel. It maybe necessary to water jacket the wash boxcontainingliquid hydrocarbonor to otherwise cool it, since thetemperature of the gas when it enters is very high,

particles and may be used for cooling purposes. A steam The oil or otherliquid in the wash box may in circulation. It isv better The fuelproduced in the wash box'or the subsequently treated wash box mixturemay be usedagain for gas making or may .be

' dedicated to other fuel purposes. On passfeature of the process ormixture, since wash boxes have not heretofore been placed i to such use.

The process herein described may be illustrated diagrammatically. Theaccompanying Figure 1 shows a vertical cross-section of a gas. producingplant, using'the method herein proposed. Fig. 2 shows how the plantmaybe combined with a colloidalizing plant j similar to that describedin my copen-ding application, Serial No.- 344,753 filed December 10th,1919 directed toward Apparatus for the production of mobile fuels.

The generator and superheater, filled with checker-board brickwork, areheatedprevious to the beginning-of the gas-making operation in the usual"fashion of. the up run of the oil gas process or otherwise. In usualpracticethe temperature-will not materially differ from that used'in oilgas making, namely a maximum of about l4 Q- F. ."lBllt if highpercentages of solids are used in the fuel the temperature may have tobe adjusted thereto and the duration of have to be modified. No

the steps mayv be given as this will vary fixed rule can according tothe. fuel, as it does indeed. in

the ordinary oil, coal and water gas processes. The duration of thesteps and their sequence are hereafter given for use with a typicalcomposite fuel carrying up to about 30% by. weight ofcoal, particlespulverized sothat about 85% will pass a 200 mesh screen and stabilizedin oil with-about 1% of lime-rosin grease or with about 10% coaldistillate such as water gas tar or with lesser percentages of both.

, Colloidal fuel is suitably admitted to the generatorl through a valve4'and is atomized and ignited so as to heat and gas in the generator andsuperheater. The fuel should bepreheated to 130 F. to 180 For over toflow and atomize readily and facilitate the gas-making operation. It isatomized through a 'fice under pressure, as ls'usual 1n o1l gas throughvalves 5 and 10 andsteam through 4. At the close of this initial step,colloidal fuel is introduced through valve 4. The gas and vapors passtothe superheater 9 through pipe 8 and pass thence into the air throughpipe 11, cover 12 and funnel 13.

The fuel is heated in the generator and superheater for some nineminutes. Then the air is turned off at valves 5 and 10, and valve 14 isopened, and valve 12 is closed. Thereupon colloidal fuel and steam alonepass into the generator and superheater for about nine minutes. At' stepthe fuel. is out off and steam alone is introduced through to drive thegases through the generator and sup'erheater into the wash box 15. Thismay be surrounded by a water iacket 17, into The gas, whilepassingthrough the wash make the close of this valve 4 for two, minutesr15 brickwork is suitablyhot, valve box, filled with liquid hydrocarbonwhich enters through pipe 1 8 and leaves through 19, is cleansed ofsomev or all of the lamp- 1 black, tar, t oluol,'ammonia liquor andother impurities. It is also cooled down to about to a tar separator ofany known type. I In Fig. 1 a Smith tar extractor 22 is shown.

The separator still further removes the tar,

Through pipe 16 the gas passesmaining by-products. From the condenser toremove the" sulfur compounds. The gas.

the gas passes through pipe 27 into a purifier, such as a purifierfilled with ferric oxid so produced may be stored or directly used. Thecollection box '26 of the condenser connects also with pipe 19 throughpipe 30. Under favorable circumstances the tar ex tractor and condensermay be omitted,-;de-

pending upon the completeness of theitar and article extraction in thewash box.

It as been remarked that the colloidalizing process may be combined withthe gas making and particles from the wash box,-if suitably homogenized;may be directly used as fuel. lf however, the commingling is notsufiicient or if the oil will carry further particles or tar and it isdesired to soload it'then the 3 liquidmay be colloidalizedwith'more'carbonac'eous; particles, tar 'or oil as described.

in my said cope'nding applications. To d so the oil in tank 48 entersthe-wash box through pipe 18.

tial load then passes throughtthe washbox and through pipe 19 and thefour-way valve The liquid with its parinto pipe 32. From premixer 36. I

The oil tank 48,-.may be fixated by'stabilizing substance from tank 56,which flows or is pumped therein by pump '57 through there ,it goes'into the pipe 55. Crushed carbonaceous substance entersthefpremixerf36. from hopper 33 through a conveyer 34.- Stabilizingvsubstanceimay conveyed directly to the premixer through 'pipe35; Thecomponents,

with-further oil added from 48 if desi1fed,'

are premixed by agitator 37 driven from 38 and then" pass through acontrol, valve 39 and'pipe 40 to a pulverizing mill 41. In

\Fig. 2 this isofthe Hal-dings type, but any suitable coal pulverizingmill may be used. If already. pulverized coal is used andplaced inhopper33 then the mill maybe simply a blending or paint mill.

' baflle plates 43 in a tank 42 to deposit the larger particles. Insteadofsuch plates a sliiner or small tube-like ball mill to further reducethe particles may be employed."

The stable fuel is then pumped through pipe 44 by pump 45 actuated bymotor 47 or. caused to flow from the mill or small tank 42 through thepipe 46 into the tank 52 where it is stored for use. Heat may be appliedt the fuel in the mill or in tank 52. The tanks 48 and 52 may containagitators orcoilsto process. Thus the mixed oil, tar

' ca'sion.

From the mill the fuel may pass under and over a'series'of m I ,Veritionwhat I claim I j method of making gas which i advance pept onization,blending of liquids or to congeal the fuel in storage. Coils arediagrammatically indicated by 51 and 53.

' The agitator '49 in tank 48 is driven from 50.

The, outlet 54 of tank '52 is shown also. The combinationin some suchfashion in a closed circuit of gas and 'fuel maln'ng is most im-'portant. Y

It is obvious that the details of the present. process of gas making andthe pos'sible accompanying fuel manufacture m'aybe varied within broadlimits without departing from the scope of this invention. Thustheduration of the steps, degree of heat, lseair used, dimensions ofapparatus and character of the 'fuelmay be changed to quence ofoperations, pipe connections, use of special parts, amounts of fuel,steam and suit particular needs. For example, thefs u perheater may beomitted in certain exceptional cases or may be divided into two heatingsections as in the oil gas procem. The-term generator taken broadly,-in-' cludes the gas making chambers. So also there is the recognizedpossibility of adding other steps to the gas making process. Forinstance, the present process may be combined with the coal, oilor'watergas proc '7 -ess.. Carbureting or enrichin Amalgas with oil gas is. notexcluded may be added to the Amalg'as. in the gener ator or superheateror may bemixed with her gases the air and steam .in the generatorbefore" 'the liquid fuel. is introduced, or may be united with Amalga safterward.

further gas ina-y be introduced into the generator throughvalve 3. Thedetails of ap- Such paratus parts and of certain special steps arereserved for presentation'on another 0c;-

Each. of the innovations herein described represents a material advancein the maldng art The utilizationffor fuel of the lainpblack andtarwhile making is of especial consequence. So also the ability topredetermine in advance the gas character,

by using fuel of given composition instead of waiting untiltheoperationz-has begun to regulate the -flow of oil to tli i's' end,enables wide variationsto be-ma de; the of; I gas produced to. meetspecial requirements of illuminating or heating Having thus statedpower.

isz. I h consists in the atomization into anddgmtion of'stable mobilefuel comprising liquid hydrocarbon and pulverized solid carbons} ceoussubstance in a mixture of air and steam-in afigianerator heated to atempera-- ture" sufieient to transformthe particles of hydrocarbon intos, the removal of ash the nature of my insolid carbonaceous substanceand the liquid so doing the gas through a wash box containing liquidhydrocarbon to remove tar and lampblack therefrom.

2; That method ofmaking gas and while atom zation 1I1t0 and'ignition ofstable mobile fuel and pulverized solid carbonaceous substance in amixture of air and steam in a generator heated to a temperaturesuflicient to transform the particles of solid carbonaceous substanceand the liquid hydrocarbon into gas, the removal of ash'from the gas,and the subsequent passage of the gas through a therefrom. i

3. That method of making gas which consists in heating a generator to atemper- 'ature suflicient to transform oil and particles of solidcarbonaceous substances into gas, then introducingair and steam into thethen introducing and igniting generator, therein stable mobile fuelcomprising liquid hydrocarbon and pulverized-solid carbonaceous of fuel,then introduclng steam 'into the substances, then terminating the' flowgenerator whichdrives the gas through a Wash box containing liquidhydrocarbon.

4. That method of making gas which consists in heating. a generator to atemper: ature suflicient to transformpil and particles of-solidcarbonaceous substance into gas atomizing therein and ign ting stable ymobile fuel comprising such ingredients,

then introducing air and steam into the generator, then atomizing andlgniting furgas through awash making a combination including 1 oil; tarand lampblack, which consists in the' comprising liquid hydrocarbon washbox containing liquid hydrocarbon to remove tar and lampblack therstable mobile fuel therein, rthen' terminating the flow of fuel, thenintroducing hydrocarbon.

5.Those steps in the method of making:

gas which consist in the atomization into and igniting of stable mobilefuel comprising liquid hydrocarbon and pulverized solid carbonaceoussubstance in a mixture of air and steam in a generator heated to aftempe'rature sufiicient to transform the particles ofsolid carbonaceoussubstance andwthe liquid hydrocarbon, into gas, and the removal of ashfrom the gas.

6., That step-in the meth of predetermined character which consists inthe atomization into and ignition of stadof making gas 7 ble mobile fuelcomprising-liquid hydro-' carbon and pulverized solid carbonaceoussubstance in a mixture of air and steam in a generator heated to avtemperature sufficient'to'transfor'm the particles of solid carbonaceoussubstance and the liquid hydrocarbon into gas.

7 That step 1n the method of producing gas which consists in combiningair, steam, gas an atomized and ignited stable mobile fuel comprisingpulverized carbonaceous substance and liquid hydrocarbon in a generatorheated" to a temperature suflicient to transform the particles. ofcarbonaceous substance and-the liquids into gas. I

Signed at New York city in the county of New 17th day of February, A. D.1920.

' LrNnoN WALLACE BATES.-

York and State of New York this

